Diamanda Galás hat seit einigen Jahren wieder die volle Verfügung über ihren Backkatalog. 2020 erschien auf ihrem Label Intravenal Sound Operations die Wiederveröffentlichung ihres ursprünglich 1982 erschienenen Minialbums „The Litanies Of Satan“, jetzt folgt im Oktober ihr 1984 herausgekommenes selbstbetiteltes Album, das zwei Stücke enthält und schon sehr lange lange nicht mehr verfügbar ist. 
Galás beschäftigt sich schon auf dieser frühen Veröffentlichung mit Themen, die auch später immer wieder eine zentrale Rolle in ihrem Werk spielen sollten: „PANOPTIKON“ ist beeinflusst von dem autobiographischen Text „In the belly of the beast“ des Mörders Jack Henry Abbott, in dem es um seine Erlebnisse im Gefängnissystem geht. Der Titel „Panoptikon“ spielt an ein von Jeremy Benthams konzipiertes Gefängnis, in dem es der Wache möglich war, die Gefangenen ununterbrochen zu beobachten. Entscheidenden Einfluss hatten Benthams Überlegungen auf Michel Foucaults Werk „Überwachen und Strafen“. Das zweite Stück “ΤΡΑΓΟΥΔΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΑΙΜΑ ΤΩΝ ΔΟΛΟΦΟΝΗΜΕΝΩΝ ” („Song from the Blood of Those Murdered“) ist all den politischen Gefangenen gewidmet, die zwischen 1967 und 1974 von der griechischen Militärjunta gefoltert und getötet wurden.
„PANOPTIKON is a cry of rage by a caged prisoner against his jailer who is concealed from his victims by an impenetrable wall of technology. The title of the work derives from a design for a new kind of prison, proposed in 1843 by Jeremy Bentham. This edifice consisted of a central observation tower, ringed by multiple tiers of cells. Each prisoner could be kept under continual observation by his keepers, yet he would see neither them nor his fellow inmates. Such a polarization of power, manifested through architectural constraint and omnipresent surveillance, would leave an indelible mark upon the victim, even after release. In Galás’ piece, the architecture of the Panoptikon is a model for the architecture of the performance work. The observation tower is aurally present as a continuous pulse, placed behind the audience and in opposition to the performer/victim through whose ranting can be seen the progressive psychosis of one buried alive. The walls of his prison become increasingly monolithic as layer upon layer of sound is built up around him – each one a transformation of the sound of her voice.
SONG FROM THE BLOOD OF THOSE MURDERED (ΤΡΑΓΟΥΔΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΑΙΜΑ ΤΩΝ ΔΟΛΟΦΟΝΗΜΕΝΩΝ) is as ancient as the hills of Greece. There is a tradition among the women of the Maniates, from whom Galás is descended, of spontaneous and ecstatic lament on the death of one of their people. This is especially associated with blood-feud among the villages, the tradition of vendetta. SONG FROM THE BLOOD OF THOSE MURDERED is dedicated to the victims of the Greek junta, those tortured and killed during the dictatorship of 1967-74. The power of the piece is drawn from the blood-soaked earth. It is channeled through the witch/shaman persona of Galás. As the piece progresses, one experiences the rage and grief of the victims’ kin, the invocation of the goddess, the swearing of vengeance and casting of the curse. Whereas the many voices of SONG FROM THE BLOOD OF THOSE MURDERED are raised with a common purpose, the single performer of PANOPTIKON is diffracted into a multiplicity of personalities, often in conflict with each other. The opposition between these characters, with their distinctive emotive states, modes of vocal production and manner of declamation is further underscored by the use of contrasting electronic signal processing and spatial distribution.”
Erscheinen wird das Album Ende Oktober erstmalig auf CD. Eine Vinylversion wird Ende des Jahres folgen.
Hören kann man das gesamte Album auf Soundcloud hier.